Jindal: End 'dumbed-down conservatism'

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Monday called on Republicans to “stop being the stupid party” and make a concerted effort to reach a broader swath of voters with an inclusive economic message that pre-empts efforts to caricature the GOP as the party of the rich.

In his first interview since his party’s electoral thumping last week, Jindal urged Republicans to both reject anti-intellectualism and embrace a populist-tinged reform approach that he said would mitigate what exit polls show was one of President Barack Obama’s most effective lines of attack against Mitt Romney.

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“We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything,” Jindal told POLITICO in a 45-minute telephone interview. “We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys.”

He was just as blunt on how the GOP should speak to voters, criticizing his party for offending and speaking down to much of the electorate.

“It is no secret we had a number of Republicans damage our brand this year with offensive, bizarre comments — enough of that,” Jindal said. “It’s not going to be the last time anyone says something stupid within our party, but it can’t be tolerated within our party. We’ve also had enough of this dumbed-down conservatism. We need to stop being simplistic, we need to trust the intelligence of the American people and we need to stop insulting the intelligence of the voters.”

Calling on the GOP to be “the party of ideas, details and intelligent solutions,” the Louisianan urged the party to “stop reducing everything to mindless slogans, tag lines, 30-second ads that all begin to sound the same. “

He added: “Simply being the anti-Obama party didn’t work. You can’t beat something with nothing. The reality is we have to be a party of solutions and not just bumper-sticker slogans but real detailed policy solutions.”

Now in his second-term as governor, Jindal, 41, will formally take over the Republican Governors Association this week at the group’s annual post-election conference. He has kept quiet in the days following the GOP’s defeat last week, but his pointed comments reflect his intent on playing an active role in the party’s conversation and perhaps to pursue a presidential bid when his term is up at the start of 2016.

If he does consider a White House run, his analysis Monday suggests he’s aligning himself with an emerging school of thought on the right that the GOP’s consecutive White House defeats can’t merely be solved by passing an immigration reform bill and appealing more directly to nonwhites. Jindal, a Brown Graduate and Rhodes Scholar, is already a favorite of conservative intellectuals and his assessment that Republican difficulties owe as much to economics as demographics will be well-received by right-leaning thinkers. Since last week, a sort of backlash to the backlash has sprouted up, with some conservatives castigating what they see as too much knee-jerk pandering on immigration and not enough discussion of what they see as the party’s unimaginative, donor-driven fiscal policies.

Jindal, the son of Indian immigrants, said the GOP “must reject identity politics” and “treat folks as individuals, as Americans, not as members of special interest groups.”

Raising Romney’s damaging comments about voters who don’t pay income taxes, Jindal urged the GOP to make clear they want the support of every American.

“The Republican Party is going to fight for every single vote,” he said. “That means the 47 percent and the 53 percent, that means any other combination of numbers going up to 100 percent.”

On cultural issues, he suggested the party not retreat from its stances opposing abortion rights and gay marriage but rather soften its tone on such matters.

Jindal was less forthcoming on immigration reform. He said the border needed to be secured but dodged repeated questions about whether he supports giving those in the country illegally a path to permanent residence or wants them deported.

On what could be a litmus test issue in a future GOP primary, he effectively punted to Obama.

Readers' Comments (301)

He wants to appear bold and new, but his ideas are so flaccid. He's more about spin and brand than substance. It's the problem with the GOP: instead of getting down and questioning the party's basic premises in 2008, it was seduced by the Tea Party wave into thinking it reflected American values. Clearly, it doesn't.

I must admit that I remain amazed at how -- at least as the media portrays it -- Republicans continue to act like the problem is how they phrase their positions, not what their positions ARE.

Y'know how I'd test that, if ever one of them had the courage to actually debate on the facts? I'd say, "OK, you claim that the U.S. has the best healthcare system in the world." PROVE IT.

End of discussion. That one issue illustrates absolutely everything about Republicans' head-in-the-sand, fact-free behavior AND how they continue to base their strategies on their belief that most Americans are too stupid to recognize their obfuscation, lying, and misrepresentation. Yes, some of us ARE pretty stupid -- the entire world was appalled by Romney, but it was still a close race here -- but no matter how much money is spent on trying to fool the public, clearly, collectively, the public is not stupid.

So, Reps, the first step in changing course for you is to start treating the entire public -- yes, including that 47% Romney disdains -- with RESPECT.

Jindal is just as stupid as the rest of the cavemen in his party and the flock of Tea Baggers who infest the right. He slammed the president for being a reckless spender and then slammed the president for not spending enough when his state got hit with a natural disaster.

The GOP is for creationism (which is stupid) and against addressing global warming. They are for war but against many of the soldiers who fight is (gay, latino). They are for forcing a woman to carry a rapists baby but against the morning after pill which would eliminate a cell.

They are the party of stupid and their statements simply reflect their caveman belief system.

The Tea Party is the home of ignorance and hate and they are coddled by the Republican Party (who secretly despises them).

POLITICO- Now in his second-term as governor, Jindal, 41, will formally take over the Republican Governors Association this week at the group’s annual post-election conference.

IF

Gov Jindal is serious in Jindal's "Newest Leadership-Position"

THEN

Gov. Jindal Begins by Getting The STATE-Governments to "Back Off from #1 Suppression of the Right To Vote #2 Vagi-probes #3 Intimidation of Immigrant-populations #4 Destruction of "Right to Organize/Assemble via Unions."

Mr. Jindal , you're starting to sound like Mr. Obama. America is divided it's not going to change any time soon the last election proved that. I hope the best for every hard working American that lives within our laws and I have no respect for those that live off the system and off others. You speak like every republican voter is the problem it's the politicians not the voters that are the problem.

“treat folks as individuals, as Americans, not as members of special interest groups.”

Who is making laws for special interest groups? The democrats, ho mo s exuals, illegal aliens, etc.

They have more rights than the individual Americans.

Respect is a two way street, it's given when received, respect is earned. Respect is not an entitlement.

Mr. Jindal you sound like you are moving left of center. We will stick with being an American family with many generations in our back ground, that have fought in many wars to keep America free. Today's America is in for a very rude awakening, and today's America can not pay the price. The very foundation that made America great is crumbling into it's self. This new America is looking more like the last days of the Roman Empire! ( research it for your self ) World History is about to re-pete it's self.

America is the 6th empire in World History the other five are dead and gone!

This is rich. The same nudniks that up until three weeks ago were dismissing evolution, climate change, racial and ethnic tolerance, and civility in public discourse have suddenly stumbled on the Enlightenment. What phonies.

Governor Jindal has cleared his voice and used it amazingly well to scathingly attack the Republican Party's typical and worst ways. Jindal offers the best and most intelligent critique of his party I've seen since the election. (Frum's is very good too.) If Jindal can match deeds with his words, we may be seeing a man who will be wearing the New Rational Republican mantle into the 2016 presidential primaries. His attitude toward Wall Streeters and institutions too big to fail is what the Republican attitude should have been all along. The modern radicalized Republican Party has been dumbed-down and lost it's intelligent conservative principles along the way. Jindal may help bring them back. I hope so.

Good luck with that. The GOP is just reaping what it's been sowing for decades. You can't just go out and wave your hand and make Rush Limbaugh's audience into thinkers, and that audience is what's left of the GOP base.

Oh, and while he's working on the "dumb" part of the equation, he might want to work on the "crazy" part too, and explain to the GOP base that running over one's spouse is not a proper response to losing an election.

Photo Caption: Look, I don't care what Representative Heller says. We have it on good authority as well through our sources. In fact, we may be looking at something much bigger. We are trying to schedule a meeting with Nancy Pelosi's people, who seem to know more about it then anyone else. Call's to Hillary's office have not been returned at this time. If we have anything further to add, we will call a press conference on schedule about the schedule of the upcoming event. Until then, we have nothing further to add . …..................................... Next Question

All talk and no walk. Did not see him say anything this during the process. Don't see any of them actually saying this when it happens. And never name names. So his he telling Boehner to raise taxes? Think not

Oh no! If the Republicans start to get smart, we'll lose a fantastic class of clown characters that star in their circus. It is so much fun to watch. All you have is to say a few names of the passengers in their clown car during the first act of the circus: Sarah, Michelle, Herman, Donald, Rick, Rick (who names his boots), Allen (might be going on leave), Todd, Richard, Newt, Rush, Sean, Glenn, John, Mitch, Karl, Tagg, and of course Mitt and Eddie Munster (aka Paul Delusional Ryan) etc. I apologize if I missed any clown celebrities. Feel free to add to the list, like that clown who yelled at the President, "You lie" and every last Tea Party jerk. What (low) class. What a group!

It takes years to gather and nourish such a group of talented clowns, but the Republicans have been doing a great job of it using reverse selection, forcing out anyone with a sign of intelligence, reason and moderation. But bless their hearts, they have consistently shown they are up to the job!

Jindal is likely to be undermined as the chair of RGA for the following reasons: Race: GOP is primarily a Southern party. Aside from Nicky Haley--Bobby's fellow Indian American Governor in SC--the GOP governors are white as chalk and are not likely to take orders from who they think is a "colored" person. Also his constituency outside of Louisiana is small. He is not Hispanic (Indian American population is at best .7% of the total population). Religion: Bobby Piyush Jindal got elected partly through his conversion from Hinduism to Catholicism. However, he is not an evangelical. He does not have the support of the Christian right, which still views the ex-Hindu and his Unitarian-style pronouncements with some suspicion. Education: His Ivy school education would be respected among Democrats. The opposite is true with Republican governors who view him as an egghead. Moderation: Conservatives already view him as Obama lite.

GOP is now the party of tokenism the same way Democratic party was decades ago. Now the Democratic party is minority majority (the same way the country will be soon) and Republican party is way off where it should to appeal to a cross-section of the US. Currently it is similar to one of the all-white former-apartheid defending parties in South Africa. Good luck, Piyush!

#2---For the first time ever, TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS WORKED! The wealthiest 1% Americans spent almost $1 billion of personal money on TV ads to defeat President Obama. This money, normally squirreled away overseas, instead stimulated the US economy!

#3---The Citizens United decision, where the Supreme Court declared “ALL THE FREE SPEECH MONEY CAN BUY,” led to Republicans picking their worst possible Presidential candidate!

#4---The Republican TAXCUT-AND-SPEND philosophy of the last 30 years won elections, but destroyed the conservative brand and left our country with massive debt!

In so many words mr. Jindal has described his tea-party base. These people listen to their conservative talking heads and repeat the hyperbolic nonsense ad-nauseum while simply ignoring the facts, or at least treating them as kryptonite. If they continue to worship at the alter of Rush, Beck, Hannitty, O'reilly, Levin, Coulter, etc., they will continue to slide into minority, irrelevant status...whilst screaming about flag pins, birth certificates, and "traditional" marriage. Meanwhile, their "leaders" get fabulously wealthy at their expense.

Now, how long before Palin "writes" (cough, cough,) another self-promoting philippic full offlags, liberty, and founding father references...which the "base" will buy by the ton?